Earlier this month, I said that the state should legalize recreational use of marijuana - or at the very least lessen the penalties for minor cannabis possession.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union said decriminalization of marijuana could improve children's futures while saving taxpayers billions of dollars. In their blog, the authors referenced Senate Bill 1449, which reduced the punishment for small cannabis possession from a misdemeanor criminal offense to a civil infraction.

In California this resulted in a 20% decline in youth arrests in 2011 and a 60% decrease in marijuana arrests. It kept about 9,000 kids out of the criminal justice system and gave them a chance to get their lives in order.

Kids should not being smoking weed. I'm against it, but I don't think punishing them with jail time is the right answer either. This nation cannot afford to lock up people for minor infractions.